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McKennedy is making the most of it on sidelines

By Kevin Rice, krice@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/18/2013 06:36:48 AM EDT

When the Valenti Modified Racing Series visits the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H., on Saturday, the field will be missing one of its biggest stars. Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford will once again sit out as a driver due to the illness of his car owner. He was expected to compete.

Instead, McKennedy will turn in his driving gloves for a headset, helping second-year Modified driver Anthony Nocella of Woburn as a crew member and race spotter. With McKennedy's help, Nocella finished third in the season opener in Waterford, Conn., two weeks ago. That was by far his best career performance in a Modified for the former NEMA Lites regular.

"He's helped me work on it a lot, and he stayed on the radio with me the whole race and helped me out," Nocella said following the race. "That definitely helped a lot."

McKennedy hopes to be back in the seat of a Modified for the next VMRS event in Thompson, Conn., on May 19. Before then he will practice the Dunigan Supermodified at Waterford, and possibly Star Speedway prior to the May 4 ISMA Supermodified season opener in Oswego, N.Y., on May 4.

While McKennedy will not be driving at Monadnock on Saturday, both Louie Mechalides of Tyngsboro and Nashua's Norm Wrenn will. Both are pursuing a first VMRS title this season. Each driver finished the season-opening race at Waterford on the lead lap, but with results that were not what they had hoped for.

Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., will have what they are calling a, "Spruce-up" weekend, beginning Saturday at 9 a.

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m. Race teams and fans are being encouraged to come to the track and help clean up the grounds and assist with facility improvements that include painting, landscaping and other assorted improvement projects.

Next weekend both Star and Lee will host practice sessions on Saturday, with season opening events scheduled for the weekend of May 3 and 4. The Hudson Speedway in New Hampshire will open in mid-May.

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